Wanting

Tulagi Weighed In Balance And Found

But Bishop Baddeley Sharply Criticises Selection of Honiara as "Capital" of Solomon Islands

T*HE Solomon Islands Administration X has settled itself permanently into new headquarters at Point Cruse— officially called Honiara—and has aban doned the old capital on Tulagi Island.

Honiara is on the northern shore of the large island of Guadalcanal, close to the native village of Kukum. Tulagi is a small island off the coast of Gela, about 20 miles away from Honiara, across the central Solomon Islands sea.

Honiara is on an open beach, sheltered during nine months of the year, but open to the north-west winds. Tulagi harbour enclosed between Tulagi Island, the islet of Makambo and the southern shores of Gela, is one of the most convenient and safest havens in the Group.

The choice of Honiara as the new capi tal has been acclaimed by those who like room to move around and build, but it has not been well received by shipping interests. rE rival merits of Honiara and Tulagi were summed up in a discussion in the Solomon Islands Advisory Coun cil in October last. The majority of the Council favoured Honiara; but the Bishop of Melanesia (Dr. Baddeley) very strongly criticised the choice.

Dr. Baddeley said it was the depth of .absurdity that in a Group where there were many excellent harbours, the new capital should be placed on what was practically an open beach. The lives and livelihood of most people in the Solomons were bound up with small seagoing craft; and everyone, sooner or later, had to visit administrative headquarters. It was most important that they should be able to anchor their boats there in safety.

There was an excellent harbour, with first-class wharves, at Tulagi. Neither

was available at Honiara, nor likely to be—except at a cost that could not be contemplated. They had said there was no room for expansion in Tulagi. Why could they not move some of the ad ministrative buildings, if necessary, from Tulagi Island to the nearby mainland of Gela?

During 13 years, proceeded the Bishop, the only anti-Tulagi argument he had heard sustained was that the place lacked amenities. It would be much cheaper to build a road from a point opposite Tulagi, on Gela mainland, to a first-class residential area on Gela. than it would be to maintain a road and bridge system at and around Honiara.

The Bishop indicated that in his belief the administrative headquarters had gone to Honiara because the Americans had placed expensive establishments there— the British had hoped (though in vain) for some crumbs from the rich man’s table.

“I honestly believe that had head quarters been re-established at Tulagi late in 1943, we should have had infinitely less of the chatter which has gone on indeed, which is still going on—among the natives here in the Central Solo mons,” he said. “We should not have been ‘English No. 2’ to ‘America’s No 1 ’

Even now, I think the psychological effect of such a return would be an im portant factor in re-establishing (what has undoubtedly been lost to no small degree) the former native confidence in the British Administration. 9 “TJERE at Honiara,” proceeded the XI Bishop, “employing the advantages and the amenities which the presence of the American Forces has provided some have formed quite wrong ideas as

to what life is like in the Solomons in normal times. The ‘African mind’—if I may say so with all respect, although I do not refer to the Resident Commis sioner—has for the past two or three years envisaged Guadalcanal in terms of great open spaces of Africa, with motor roads, airfields, farms and goldfields, with millions of natives available as labour.

They think of the Solomons generally as a potentially prosperous African Colony.

“Apart from the terrific—and, I think most unjustifiable expenditure at Honiara itself, how can we possibly hope to maintain even the portion of the pre sent road system which the proposed lay out of Honiara would demand, with our annual income of about £70,000 and a native population of under 100,000?

“Is there any justification for believ mg that an airfield will be maintained on Guadalcanal? Is it not much more likely that a small seaplane base in the neighbourhood of Halavo or Gavutu (Tulagi area) will be the terminus of a small supplementary air service, connect ing with the main trans-Pacific routes?

“Some have put forth the argument that, as gold will be found on Guadal canal, the capital should be there. That should be one of the strongest argu ments why the administrative centre should be placed somewhere else!”

The Bishop pointed out that Tulagi now has a system of roads, many con venient buildings, a water supply, and substantial wharves, “which will be stand ing when the wharves at Honiara will be floating away across the Pacific before a north-west gale.” Tulagi would give a sense of security never to be found at Honiara, with its leaf tenements, its dust storms, its shifting beach, and its drag ging anchors.

ARGUMENTS for Honiara and against -Tulagi were presented by Wing- Commander C. V. Widdy. Honiara gave a healthv situation. Facilities existed which could allow the residents to go to residential areas on higher and cooler levels. There were excellent port facilities at Tulagi, while Honiara was exposed to north-west weather. But Tnlagi’s new wharves had been hurriedly built of timbers not borer-proofed, and would not last more than two or three years. He thought that adequate shelter against north-westers could be provided at Honiara at reasonable cost.

There was no room for expansion at Tulagi, proceeded Mr. Widdy, except to wards the Gela mainland, where expen sive road construction would be needed.

There was room at Honiara. Honiara was near a good airfield although no one knew, yet, whether it would be used in the future.

Food crops could be produced in abun dance and cattle could be grazed in the Guadalcanal regions around Honiara. So far as industrial development was con cerned, he thought the low-level grass lands of Guadalcanal held considerable promise. The gold industry of Guadal canal had only just begun to move in 1941-42—but it still had to be proved worth while. He believed that, on all considerations, the balance lay strongly with Honiara.

Major Rutter and Major Sinclair ex pressed the opinion that the infrequent strong winds from the north-west would not interfere seriously with shipping at Honiara. On all counts other than port facilities, they favoured Honiara—espe cially in relation to health.

Mr. D. Mackinnon acknowledged the claims of Tulagi as a port; but, he said, “weighing all the foreseeable factors, the balance would appear to favour Honiara.”